A Linux-powered microwave oven

I have this creeping suspicion that's it's an attempt to differentiate themselves from the competition without actually having to innovate. A lot of home appliances have come to a state where it would take some serious engineering to make a substantial improvement over previous models (which is expensive), so to keep up a fake air of technological evolution (as we've come to expect it from other devices such as computers or phones), they just tack things on that makes them look more advanced than it really is.

One anecdote I have of kitchen appliances that have essentially reached an innovation plateau is when my family's old hand mixer broke. We've had it for probably over a decade, maybe even more. When my mother came back from the store, she did so with the exact same model. Same white plastic mould that would slowly become yellow over the years with a teal push button on the top to release the attachments and one switch that had several positions to adjust speed, powered with a somewhat flimsy two-wire power cord. Not only did they still produce and sell it, the salesman even recommended it to her, because essentially there have been no improvements over the years. Yes, maybe internally the power supply or the motor were using newer parts, but it's still just an electric motor that you can plug into a wall outlet to spin mixing or puréeing attachments of various shapes.